1. Field
Embodiments relate to a spectrophotometer capable of absorbing light and converting the absorbed light into an electrical signal by mimicking actual human eyes using photoreceptor proteins.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photoreceptor proteins are proteins present on the cell membrane of optic nerve cells and absorb light. The photoreceptor protein consists of retinal which is an oxidation product of vitamin A coupled with the membrane protein of opsin. Opsins are membrane proteins present on the cell membrane of optic nerves. Humans have four kinds of opsins, which are iodopsins present in cone cells and allow distinguishment of red, green and blue colors, and opsin present in rod cells allows distinguishment of light and darkness. Photopsin consists of iodopsin bound with retinal and rhodopsin consists of opsin bound with retinal. When the photoreceptor protein absorbs light, energy is produced while opsin and retinal are split from each other. The energy is transferred to the brain via the optic nerve, thus allowing perception of light.
A spectrophotometer is a device that can measure intensity of light as a function of wavelength. The spectrophotometer is used to measure light intensity, reflection, transmittance, absorption, etc. Typically, the spectrophotometer consists of a light source, a monochromator, a detector, etc. Light from a light source is dispersed into different wavelength components by the monochromator, and the detector measures the intensity of the dispersed wavelength components. However, with conventional spectrophotometers, it is difficult to measure the wavelength components from a broadband light source at the same time like a human eye does. Although the monochromator can be used to disperse the light into monochromatic lights so that the intensity of the wavelength components can be measured, it is not possible to measure complex light as good as the human vision.